Private investment invited for Kenyan transport project

Date: 13/10/2011

Private investment has been invited for the trains and high-capacity buses that will be used on Kenya's new transport infrastructure.

Amos Kimunya, the country's Transport Minister, made his comments while in Nairobi, where he was meeting with a delegation of investors from Japan, Business Daily reports.

There, he explained that while the state would be building the new 167 km road and rail network, private companies will be relied upon to provide and manage the train engines and carriages, along with new buses.

Scheduled to start next year, the Nairobi Metropolitan Mass Rapid Transport System is set to link the centre of the city with destinations including Kajiado, Kikuyu, Thika, Athi River and Ruiru, among other stops.

"Our focus on this project would be [the] laying of infrastructure such as roads, railway and commuter termini, but [leaving] the rest - such as the trains and buses - to the private sector to handle," Mr Kimunya was reported by the publication as saying.

In July, it was noted by All Africa that the National Youth Service, Naivasha CDF and Kenya Rural Roads Authority are working together to improve roads in the Naivasha constituency.

Posted by Mary Treen